In July 1900, a historic gathering took place in London, marking a defining moment in the global movement for Black unity, justice, and equality. The First Pan-African Conference , held from July 23 to 25 at Westminster Town Hall, brought together Black intellectuals, leaders, and activists from across the African diaspora. This conference was the first formal Pan-African meeting of its kind and paved the way for future efforts to combat colonial oppression, racism, and the socioeconomic struggles faced by people of African descent around the world. While modest in scale, the conference laid the groundwork for the Pan-African movement that would inspire generations of leaders fighting for civil rights, independence, and unity. The First Pan-African Conference was organised against a backdrop of widespread colonialism, racism, and inequality. By the late 19th century, European powers had aggressively colonised nearly all of Africa, subjecting its people to economic exploitation, cultural suppression, and systemic discrimination. Racist ideologies were rampant globally, and Black populations, whether in Africa, the Americas, or the Caribbean, faced severe marginalisation and disenfranchisement. As these injustices persisted, a sense of solidarity began to emerge among people of African descent, sparking the beginnings of Pan-Africanism—a movement based on the belief in a shared African heritage and the need for collective action. The First Pan-African Conference represented the first major attempt to bring together members of the African diaspora to address their common struggles and aspirations for a future free from oppression. The First Pan-African Conference was spearheaded by Henry Sylvester Williams , a Trinidadian lawyer, writer, and activist who played a pivotal role in organising and shaping the event. Born in Trinidad and educated in Canada and England, Williams was deeply aware of the injustices faced by Black people worldwide. As a barrister in London, he became an outspoken advocate for racial equality, using his influence to raise awareness of the plight of Africans and people of African descent. Williams’ efforts to unite Black people on a global platform resonated with many notable intellectuals and activists of the time. W.E.B. Du Bois , the renowned African American sociologist and civil rights leader, was among the most prominent attendees. Du Bois had already established himself as a powerful voice for Black liberation, and his involvement in the conference underscored its significance. The conference also included influential figures like Alexander Walters , president of the National Afro-American Council; Anna H. Jones , an educator and activist from Ohio; and representatives from Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ethiopia, the Caribbean, and South Africa. Another key figure was Dadabhai Naoroji , an Indian nationalist and the first British MP of Asian descent, who delivered a speech at the conference. Though not of African descent, Naoroji’s advocacy for anti-colonialism aligned with the aims of the Pan-Africanists, highlighting the interconnected nature of struggles for racial justice across the British Empire. The primary goal of the First Pan-African Conference was to unite Black voices and call for an end to the injustices inflicted on people of African descent. It sought to establish a common platform where representatives of African and Caribbean nations, along with African American and Black British delegates, could discuss the economic, political, and social struggles of Black communities and advocate for equal rights. The conference outlined a series of demands and recommendations that encompassed: - Challenging Racial Discrimination: The attendees condemned the global systemic discrimination faced by Black people and sought to expose the brutality of colonialism and racism. - Securing Civil and Political Rights: They advocated for universal suffrage and political representation, particularly for African populations in colonised nations, and demanded an end to racial segregation in public facilities. - Educational Opportunities: Recognising education as a pathway to social mobility, the conference emphasised the importance of educational access for people of African descent, with the aim of fostering leadership and self-determination. - Economic Empowerment: The conference also focused on the need for economic development and independence for Black communities, underscoring the link between economic empowerment and liberation. The conference addressed these issues in a declaration known as the *Address to the Nations of the World*, authored by W.E.B. Du Bois. This document, which would later become one of Du Bois’s most famous writings, demanded fair treatment, justice, and equality for Black people worldwide. It challenged colonial powers and the United States to live up to their professed ideals of liberty and justice. One of the most significant moments of the First Pan-African Conference was W.E.B. Du Bois's closing address, in which he famously declared, “The problem of the 20th century is the problem of the colour line.” This profound statement became a rallying cry for the Pan-African movement and captured the essence of the global struggle against racism and colonial oppression. Du Bois’s statement highlighted the racial hierarchies that existed not only in Africa but throughout the world, from the United States to the Caribbean and beyond. His words resonated deeply with delegates and became emblematic of the global challenge faced by Black communities. The notion of the colour line underscored the need for unity and collective action to break down racial barriers and create a more equitable world. Though modest in attendance, the First Pan-African Conference had a lasting impact on the global movement for Black liberation. It laid the foundations for future Pan-African congresses, which would grow in size and influence over the decades, with gatherings in Paris, London, New York, and Manchester. The conference also set the stage for the development of organisations dedicated to the cause of Black liberation, including the African Association, which Henry Sylvester Williams founded shortly after the conference. The Pan-African ideals articulated in 1900 inspired a new generation of leaders, including Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya, and Nnamdi Azikiwe of Nigeria, who would later become instrumental in the struggle for African independence. For Black communities outside of Africa, the conference strengthened the solidarity within the African diaspora, fostering connections between African Americans, Caribbean communities, and Africans that continue to this day. Furthermore, the Address to the Nations of the World remains a landmark document in the history of Pan-Africanism. It signified an early, unified call for the recognition of the rights and dignity of Black people worldwide. This powerful declaration emphasised that people of African descent were entitled to the same liberties and protections as any other human beings, laying a moral foundation that would support future civil rights movements. Despite its achievements, the First Pan-African Conference faced challenges and limitations. The small scale of the event, with only around 30 attendees, highlighted the difficulty of mobilising a global movement at a time when communication and travel were limited. Additionally, many of the goals outlined in the conference would not be realised for several decades, as colonialism and segregation persisted well into the 20th century. Nonetheless, the conference demonstrated the power of collective action and the importance of raising a unified voice against injustice. It also served as a beacon of hope for oppressed people worldwide, showing that their struggles were interconnected and that change was possible through solidarity. The First Pan-African Conference in London marked the birth of a revolutionary movement that would shape the course of the 20th century and beyond. Under the visionary leadership of Henry Sylvester Williams and with the intellectual contributions of figures like W.E.B. Du Bois, the conference brought global attention to the plight of Black communities and established a framework for international Black solidarity. By addressing colonialism, racism, and economic disenfranchisement, the conference created a platform for future leaders and activists to build upon. Its legacy is evident in the continued fight for justice, equality, and unity that remains central to the Pan-African movement today. The First Pan-African Conference stands as a testament to the resilience and vision of those who dared to imagine a world free from oppression and inequality—a world in which the colour line would one day cease to exist.

Lizzie Emeh was an award winning Irish, Nigerian and British musician and disabilities rights campaigner. On the 9th October, Google Doodle celebrated award winning Irish, Nigerian, British musician and songwriter Lizzie Emeh, who was a champion for people with learning disabilities. On this day in 2009, Lizzie released her first album Loud and Proud. Lizzie was born in Notting Hill, West London and when she was a baby, her parents were told that she would never walk or talk. By four years old, Emeh overcame those expectations, as she would continue to do throughout her life. Surrounded by a family that inspired her passion for music, she knew she wanted to pursue it as a career. Emeh was discovered at an open mic night in 1999 and she soon joined Heart n Soul, an arts organization working toward an inclusive future. With this organization, Emeh began to perform across Europe and the world, notably playing at the Glastonbury Festival and Heart n Soul Unplugged in Asia. Emeh also enjoyed writing songs about her personal experiences, as she did on Loud and Proud . The title reflects her desire to be open and celebratory about disabilities. She described the album as “eclectic, wide-ranging, and with lots of soul.” Not long after it was released, she took her original music to the world stage at the 2012 London Paralympics opening ceremony. Her next album was a three-part EP trilogy, collectively titled See Me. The three parts, The Clan, My Baboo, and Meds , delved into her relationships and mental health. Listen to Lizzie, an album of love and empowerment with a more reggae sound, was released posthumously in 2023. Emeh won multiple national awards for her contribution to music and her legacy can be explored through her albums that are written straight from the heart. She is also remembered for championing the rights of people with learning disabilities and inspiring more disabled people to enter the music industry. Thank you for sharing your stories and musical talents with the world, Lizzie Emeh! A word from Lizzie's family Special thanks to Lizzie Emeh’s estate, for their collaboration on this project. Below Monica, Lizzie’s sister, shares her thoughts on today’s Doodle and Lizzie’s legacy. Lizzie always had a passion for music ever since she was a child. When she was young, she received a recording unit which had a mic, and she started singing straightaway, she loved it. Our house was always filled with music. Lizzie had a tough start to life, she was born with severe medical complications and our parents were told she would never walk or talk. However she proved the doctors wrong and continued to defy the odds throughout her life. Lizzie’s career really started to develop in 1999 when she was discovered by Heart n Soul, a creative arts charity based in South East London. They supported her to develop her music and helped nurture her career. I remember going to see her perform in the early days. It was normal to see Lizzie burst out in song at home, but it was such a surprise seeing her on stage. We didn’t know she had that confidence, she was brilliant and we were so proud of her. When she told us about making her first album Loud and Proud , we thought it was amazing. She was writing and producing songs and it was incredible. I came to many of her performances over the years, her music was great. I loved seeing her perform, it was amazing to see how all the audience felt included in her performance. Lizzie achieved so much in her life from creating lots of music, performing across the world and winning awards for her achievements in music. Lizzie was also passionate about talking about the lives and rights of people with learning disabilities. She wanted to inspire people and let them know that they can make their dreams come true, just like she did. Lizzie would have been so proud to know she is being honoured in this way, she wouldn’t have stopped talking about it! She believed in working hard and always doing your best. Lizzie was loud, proud, positive, happy and joyful! We miss her. -Monica Emeh

Windrush Month 2024 'Celebrating the Caribbean pioneers of the 1940s & 1950s' - exploring the lives and stories of the the early Caribbean people who came to Britain after the 2WW. Althea Marjorie McNish was born in Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad and Tobago around 1924. She was the only child of a well-to-do couple Joseph and Margaret Bourne. Her father, a teacher and writer, was descended from the Merikin settlers in Trinidad and her mother was a dressmaker. McNish showed a precocious talent for art at her mother’s knee: “My mother made clothes, but she didn’t draw,” she said. “She would say ‘I want a round collar’ and I would draw it. I was only four or five.” An enthusiastic painter from an early age, while still in school she landed a job as an entomological illustrator with the colonial Trinidad and Tobago government. “I had to go into the field and do detailed drawings of insects to help in the sugar and cocoa pest control programme.” Later she became a junior member of the prestigious Trinidad Arts Society and had her first work exhibited at the age of 16. At the time, Trinidad was at the centre of a Caribbean cultural renaissance, propelled by the struggle for independence and the need to forge a national identity. This would throw up an extraordinary array of talent that would produce some 50 novels between 1948 and 1958 and several internationally renowned artists. As McNish said, “There was quite an artistic thing going on at the time.” (1) Inevitably, McNish would take influence from the leading lights of this movement, taking inspiration from local artists such as Sybil Atteck, Amy Leony Pang Boscoe Holder and M.P. Alladin. She also enjoyed European modernists such as Vincent Van Gogh and Gauguin. “Van Gogh was one of my favourites – he was very tropical” she said. In 1951 McNish moved with her mother to London, England to join her father, who had already moved there to work. In London she won a scholarship to study architecture at the Architectural Association School of Architecture but chose instead to take a course in print studies at the London School of Printing and Graphic Arts (now the London College of Communications) where she developed an interested in textiles. She took an extra class at the Central School of Art and Design, where renowned artist Eduardo Paolozzi taught. After completing her undergraduate studies, she went to complete a postgraduate degree at the Royal College of Art (RCA) where her talent was recognised by Hugh Casson. In 1957 during her final year at the RCA, McNish took a trip to the Essex home of her tutor, the painter and graphic artist Edward Bawden and his wife Charlotte, a potter. When walking in the countryside near the Bawdens' home, McNish encountered a wheat field for the first time, which for her recalled sugar cane plantations in Trinidad. This trip and the organic forms found in the English countryside made a significant impression on McNish, and in 1959 she used the wheat motif in Golden Harvest – her first design for commercial design company Hull Traders. Produced in four colours, the furnishing fabric of printed heavy cotton satin was Hull Traders' best-selling design when released the following year and stayed in production until the 1970s. (2) After graduating, McNish was hired by Arthur Stewart-Liberty – chairman of London’s Liberty department store – who famously commissioned the young graduate to create new exclusive designs for both fashion and furnishing fabrics. “He thought Britain was ready for colour and it was” said McNish. On that same day, Liberty despatched McNish in a taxi to fashion supplier Zika Ascher, who likewise immediately booked her to create a new collection, this time for Dior. Successfully designing for such prestigious clients, McNish was the first Caribbean woman to achieve prominence in this field. (1) McNish designed a range of fabrics for Liberty including a furnishing fabric called Cebollas with a strong tropical flavour – featuring blue onions set against a brown background – and another called Hibiscus, an even bolder furnishing textile boasting bright-red hibiscus flowers set against a sharply contrasting black background. (1) One of her most popular designs for Liberty included the abstract Cascade – a heavily textured cotton poplin fabric from 1959, featuring a black and blue background with small, overlaid circles repeated in bright reds, greens and blues. The pattern fizzed with energy and was reminiscent of observing a living organism under a microscopic eye. (2) In 1959, for Hull Traders, a company later responsible for many of the colourful and irreverent pop designs of the swinging 60s, she created a sensation with Golden Harvest, a screen print on cotton satin used for upholstery fabrics that featured a bright-orange, yellow and black graphic pattern inspired by the wheat fields of Essex, which reminded her of Trinidad’s sugarcane plantations. (3) By 1960 she was taking on jobs for Cavendish Textiles and then for Heal’s, for whom she designed Trinidad, a printed furnishing textile covered with a loosely sketched dense tropical forest, filled with green palm trees of different shapes and sizes. At this time, she also worked for Ascher’s textile company, which commissioned her to create printed silk dress fabrics. (3) Other British manufacturers who approached McNish included Danasco Fabrics, for whom, in 1961, she produced Tomée, an exceptionally vivid monoprint of an abstract pattern made up of pink, orange and lemon stripes. In 1968, for the Bridlington-based firm Sanderson-Rigg, she designed a space-age-style wallpaper, named Zircon, featuring a dazzling abstract pattern coloured orange, mustard and yellow. (3) McNish's reputation was such that she designed fabrics for Queen Elizabeth II's wardrobe for the 1966 Royal Tour of Trinidad and the Caribbean. Throughout the 1960s McNish also ensured that she retained her links with the West Indies. She was a founding member of the Caribbean Artists Movement (CAM) and took part in their art exhibitions held in 1967, May 1968 and January 1971, exhibiting textiles as well as ‘plastic panels in laminate.’ For the Caribbean edition of the BBC TV magazine programme Full house, produced by John La Rose and transmitted on 3 February 1973, she brought together the work of CAM visual artists as a studio setting for CAM writers, musicians and filmmakers. In 1969, she married John Weiss, architect, jeweller and historian, and worked in partnership with him from 1971. At the same time McNish’s artwork was being displayed in exhibitions – beginning with Paintings by Trinidad and Tobago Artists at the Commonwealth Institute in London in 1961. Over the years her paintings and drawings were shown at the Victoria and Albert Museum (1978), the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester (2007) and, most recently, at Somerset House in London (2019). Examples of her textile design can be found in the V&A, the Museum of Domestic Design and Architecture in London, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Cooper-Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York. (3) In 1976, McNish was awarded the Chaconia Medal Gold for her contributions to art and design, and in 2006 an honorary doctorate in fine arts from the University of Trinidad and Tobago, where she mentored many of its student designers. She also appeared on the BBC4 documentary Whoever Heard of a Black Artist? aired in 2018, and in the same year a section of the book Women Design, by the design historian Libby Sellers, was devoted to McNish and her work. More recently, her work — represented by three printed textiles from early in her career: Golden Harvest, Pomegranate and Fresco — was featured in the exhibition RCA Black: Past, Present & Future (31 August–6 September 2011), organised by the Royal College of Art in collaboration with the African and African-Caribbean Design Diaspora (AACDD) to celebrate art and design by African and African-Caribbean graduates. McNish was also an important presence in the wider British design scene. She was a member of the board of the UK’s Design Council and a Vice-President and Fellow of the Chartered Society of Designers. (3) Althea McNish died in April 2020 in a London nursing home at the age of 95. A major retrospective of her work was held in April 2022, entitled Althea McNish: Colour is Mine. The exhibition was sponsored by Liberty Fabrics who reissued a capsule collection of her designs to coincide with the it. Co-curator Rosie Sinclair of Goldsmiths College said: “McNish was a rare Black woman within the international textile history. She broke boundaries [and] perhaps following this exhibition people will take another look at furnishing and fashion fabrics and wonder why colour became such an important part of new design taste in post-modern society and think about the individuals, a design pioneer such as Althea, who made this happen.” On the 15 May 2023, coinciding with the 99th anniversary of her birth, a Nubian Jak blue plaque was unveiled in her honour at her former home on West Green Road in Tottenham, north London. McNish was a gifted and pioneering force in textile design who brought colour into the lives of young consumers desperate to move beyond the greyness of post 2WW Britain. Her contribution to post-war British design and pioneering creative vision changed the character of British Modernism. Source: https://angelacobbinah.wordpress.com/2008/07/30/a-dash-of-colour/ (1) https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/althea-mcnish-an-introduction (2) https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2020/may/04/althea-mcnish-obituary (3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Althea_McNish#cite_note-17

Windrush Month 2024 'Celebrating the Caribbean pioneers of the 1940s & 1950s' - exploring the lives and stories of the the early Caribbean people who came to Britain after the 2WW. Floella Benjamin was born on 23 September 1949 in Pointe-a-Pierre, Trinidad and Tobago. She was one of six children, with an older sister, three younger brothers and a younger sister. Her father was a policeman and a talented jazz musician, who decided to migrate to England to play jazz saxophone. Her mother later joined him along with Benjamin’s youngest sister and brother. While the four older children, including Floella, were left in the care of family friends who were secretly abusive to them. Benjamin and her sister often tried writing to their parents to tell them about the abuse, but the letters were always read, and censored before they were sent. Two years later, her parents sent for all their children, and they travelled by ship to England. Floella was just ten years old when she boarded the Marques de Comillas with her siblings. They arrived at Southampton docks on 2 September 1960. That early childhood experience was the focus of her first memoir “Coming to England,” which she wrote, she says “because there was nothing that reflected my experience.” The family of seven initially lived in one room in Chiswick in West London before settling in the affluent London suburb of Beckenham, in Kent. Floella has talked candidly about the abuse she and her family faced whilst growing up with neighbours and at school. “For the first four years of being in England. I fought almost every day. You never knew who would spit at you, or try to pee on you, or lift your skirt and say “Where’s your tail, monkey?” she said. At school, Benjamin was an outstanding athlete, but she was prohibited from taking the running trophy home because of her colour. She recalls her mother’s advice to focus on her education, as it was the passport to success in England. Benjamin remembers realising that she had to double her work rate and had to be dually accomplished to succeed in England.[1] The turning point in her life she, says, came in 1964 at 14, when she nearly killed a boy who was shouting racist names at her, as she walked to the shops in Penge High Street. She grabbed his lollipop and jammed it down his throat, watching him turn blue. Benjamin calls it her “spiritual moment”; the moment when she says she realised that violence was not the answer. She pulled out the lollipop and walked off proud. [2] And the Benjamin family — high achievers all – made the classic immigrant journey so often held up by politicians of all persuasions. Working hard at school, gaining qualifications and entering the professions. [2] Her sister Sandra is a writer and author, and her brother Lester Benjamin was honoured in 2015 for his dedication to duty and services to Parliament over nearly two decades. Floella’s ambition was to become a teacher, but her parents couldn’t afford the educational fees to keep her on at school at 16. So, she left school and spent three years working for a bank. Eventually, raising enough money to do her ‘A’ levels at night school, and passed her banking diploma with the intent of becoming the first Black female bank manager. However, realising that her dream would be unlikely to come true, she auditioned for a part in a touring musical called Hair. [3] Used to singing on stage with her clerk and part-time jazz musician father’s band and organising dance nights for the West Indian Student Centre in London’s Earl Court, Benjamin responded to an advert in a newspaper in 1973 seeking non-professionals for a new musical tour. The show was “Hair,” famously controversial for its hippie onstage nudity. Going in her lunch break from the bank, you know all you need to know is Benjamin’s steely determination from the fact that she not only got cast but also rather presumptuously announced at the audition that she wouldn’t be taking her clothes off. [2] But she still got the role. It was during this time that she met her husband Keith Taylor, whom she now lives with in London together with their children. Benjamin went on to get several parts in a variety of musicals including Jesus Christ Superstar and the Black Mikado. However, she was keen to break into television and made her debut on television in 1974 in an episode of Love Thy Neighbour. Her true acting opening occurred when she appeared as a prisoner in six episodes of the prison drama Within These Walls, which ran from 1973 to 1978. She also acted in the situation comedy Mixed Blessings (1978) and the drama serial Send in the Girls (1978). In 1976 she auditioned for the presenter role in Play School and got the part. Benjamin was the first person in Britain to wear beads in her hair in the 1970s – it was to become her trademark look. Benjamin was the first children's television presenter to appear on her show, pregnant. Playaway followed Playschool and Benjamin dressed up as a whole range of characters – from queens to witches – alongside well-known actors such as Brian Cant, Tony Robinson, Anita Dobson and Griff Rhys-Jones. In 1977, she appeared in her first and only leading role in the UK Black film called Black Joy alongside Norman Beaton and Paul Medford. The movie was about a young man coming to live in a big city and learning to fend for himself. Benjamin was critically acclaimed at the Cannes Film Festival for her portrayal of ‘Miriam’ in the film, which was the British entry that year, the first Black-led film. By this time Benjamin had become recognisable by her beaded hair and was not best pleased when one photographer tugged at it when she walked down the red carpet. In 1987, Benjamin set up a production company with her husband and was commissioned by Channel Four to write a children's programme called The Tree House. The programme was a huge success, and the company made other programmes for different places worldwide, including Cuba, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, and Jamaica. They produced children’s programmes Jamboree, Hullaballoo and an adaptation of her autobiography Coming to England, documentaries, cookery series programmes such as A Taste of Barbados, Caribbean Light and Caribbean Kitchen. [3] Beyond her on-screen persona, Floella Benjamin has been a vocal advocate for children's rights and education. She was the vice-president of NCH Action for Children and Barnardos and was in the NSPCC Hall of Fame. And part of the ‘4Rs Commission’ which the Liberal Democrats established to look into primary education in the UK. She has voiced concerns about the lowering standards of children’s television and the increasing objectification of women because of the widespread availability of online porn to young children. Floella's incredible journey from Trinidad and Tobago to becoming a respected figure in the British establishment is a testament to her unwavering determination. Just like the entire Windrush generation, she confronted and overcame the blatant racism prevalent in Britain, paving the way for those who came after. Recognised for her outstanding contributions to broadcasting with an OBE in 2001, she later became Baroness Benjamin of Beckenham in the County of Kent in 2010, making history as the first actress to be appointed as a peer in the House of Lords. In her inaugural address, she eloquently highlighted the significance of her childhood and the enduring legacy of her parents by choosing Beckenham as her title. Sources: Historical Geographies: Biography - Floella Benjamin (archive.ph) [1] Swinging racism: Floella Benjamin’s memoir of 60s London | Samira Ahmed: Journalist, Broadcaster, Writer [2] h2g2 - Floella Benjamin - Activist, Actress and Producer - Edited Entry [3]

Windrush Month 2024 'Celebrating the Caribbean pioneers of the 1940s & 1950s' - exploring the lives and stories of the the early Caribbean people who came to Britain after the 2WW. Eustace Edward Ricardo (ER) Braithwaite was born in Queenstown, Georgetown in the then British colony of British Guiana (now Guyana). He was one of five children. Both his parents were graduates of Oxford University and he described growing up surrounded by education, achievement, and parental pride. Braithwaite was a studious child who attended the prestigious Queen’s College in Guyana (a secondary school modelled on the English public school) and, in 1940, earned a BSc in Physics from The City College of New York. He then moved to Britain to study and suddenly saw the English in a new light. “I couldn’t believe my eyes. White porters in the college. White waiters in the dining halls. Barmen. Servants. In far off British Guiana they were served,” said Braithwaite. “All the whites in British Guiana were in managerial positions. I never associated poverty with white persons.” Then Nazi Germany invaded Poland, and England declared war. Braithwaite and his fellow students heard a new word on the radio “blitzkrieg.” London and other British cities were being heavily bombed, and Britain desperately needed manpower to help defend their cities. So, in October 1939, they lifted their ‘colour bar’ in the military and the RAF began recruiting Black aircrew. Braithwaite initially joined the Cambridge University Air Squadron and learned how to fly, then signed on as an aircrew cadet with the Royal Air Force (RAF) in 1940. He described his time in the RAF as one where he didn’t experience any discrimination based on his skin colour nor ethnicity. “I was at one with everything. A part of everything. Black and different as blonde was different from red. The colour of my skin was no weight on my shoulders. I was proud in my skin, not defensive of it. There was a war on, and I was a warrior. War drew the people together.” After the war, Braithwaite resumed his studies and graduated from Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge in 1949 where he earned a master’s degree in physics. But despite his qualifications and experience – Braithwaite was a Spitfire pilot and had graduated top five in his class at Cambridge – he couldn’t find work as an engineer. Nothing prepared him for the brick wall of institutionalised racism he faced. His credentials got him in the door. But once a potential employer saw his skin colour, they made excuses. One man chatted with Braithwaite about his background, his time in the RAF, and his research at Cambridge. Braithwaite dared to hope. [1] Then, “Mr Braithwaite, I’m sure my colleagues would wish me to say that we are deeply impressed with your qualifications and your obvious abilities. Were the circumstances different we would be only too happy to appoint you a member of our staff. But we have a problem. All our employees are British, and we would face the reality of their almost certain reluctance to work with and perhaps under a person of colour…” [1] He experienced that scenario over and over again for nine months. Finally, after his umpteenth rejection, he found himself sitting on a park bench contemplating his future when an old man sat down next to him. He started feeding the ducks and mumbling. Braithwaite ignored him but the old man turned to him and said, ‘how people could be hurt by other people and things, but mostly themselves, and that hatred solved nothing.’ [1] Braithwaite lost it and replied “Look, why don’t you shut up? You white people are all the same. All this philosophical drivel has no meaning because, in fact, you are white and when you look out on the world you see it in a certain way. For Black people like me it has to be different…” [1] They then fell into a conversation in which, a despondent and almost defeated Braithwaite told him of his difficulties in finding work. Finally, the old man said, ‘Why don’t you try something else? A man like you, with your educational background, shouldn’t think that physics is the end of the world,” and told Braithwaite that London City Council was desperate for teachers, that they’d welcome someone with his credentials. [1] Braithwaite called the council the next day and they offered him a teaching job immediately. Braithwaite reluctantly accepted the job as a schoolteacher at St George-in-the-East Central School (now the Mulberry House apartments) in the Wapping area of East End of London. “Making plans on the half-realized dream of achievement as a physicist. Dreaming. Then the bitterness of seeing the dream whittled away, bit by bit, day by day, into weeks and months, until the only place on the whole arid horizon was a mangy schoolhouse beside a bomb-racked, rotting graveyard, and a smelly classroom with forty-six foul-mouthed youngsters. White, English youngsters.” His teaching career formed the basis of his autobiographical novel ‘To Sir With Love (1959),’ which won an Anisfield-Wolf Book Award. It was later adapted into the sentimental 1967 movie of the same name starring Sidney Poitier. Although the movie was a box-office success, Braithwaite hated it. In the movie, Sidney Poitier played the well-educated, middle-class graduate forced to deal with casual racism, violence and antisocial behaviour by a group of disadvantaged pupils. Hardest to bear was the self-hatred the racism brought out in him and the low expectations of colleagues for their charges. [2] While in contrast, the Braithwaite’s book was a gritty and unsentimental account of how he gradually turned his class around through a mix of affection and respect. It also revealed his love affair with a fellow teacher – controversial at the time because the other teacher was white. Braithwaite criticised the movie adaptation for downplaying the love affair. [2] “I detest the movie from the bottom of my heart,” he said in 2007. “I don’t like it because the movie is about the classroom, while my book is about my life.” The book also contrasted his experience of race relations in Britain with those in the US, where he studied before joining the RAF. He wrote: “The rest of the world in general and Britain in particular are prone to point an angrily critical finger at American intolerance, forgetting that in its short history as a nation it has granted to its Negro citizens more opportunities for advancement and betterment, per capita, than any other nation in the world with an indigent Negro population.” [2] To Sir, With Love has been hailed as a seminal work for immigrants from the colonies to postwar Britain. In an introduction, Caryl Phillips wrote: “The author is keen for us to understand that the Ricky Braithwaites of this world cannot, by themselves, uproot prejudice, but they can point to its existence. And this, after all, is the beginning of change; one must first identity the location of the problem before one can set about addressing it.” [2] In 1958, after nine years of teaching, Braithwaite turned to social work. He founded foster homes for ethnic minority children for the London City Council and worked as a welfare consultant for immigrant families from the Caribbean. That work inspired his second book, Paid Servant: A Report About Welfare Work in London published in 1962. Braithwaite’s writings in both books explore his challenges as an educated Black man in a society with few places for such individuals. [3] After social work, he moved to Paris in 1960 to work for the World Veterans Foundation as a human rights officer. In 1962, he transitioned into a diplomatic career, after the United Nations appointed him as a lecturer and education consultant to UNESCO in Paris. Five years later, he became Guyana's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York from 1967 to 1969. He was elected to the presidency of the United Nations Council for South West Africa in 1968. Later, he served as Guyana’s ambassador to Venezuela. In the 1960s, European colonies in Africa gained independence, and there was increasing pressure on South Africa to do the same with Namibia, which was then called South West Africa. When the International Court of Justice dismissed a complaint in 1966 from Ethiopia and Liberia about South Africa's continued presence in the territory, the UN General Assembly took over responsibility for Namibia and established a governing council for it. In response to international pressure, South Africa attempted to legitimize its control of Namibia by creating a commission to administer the territory under apartheid. Braithwaite was appointed as the president of the UN governing council and heard firsthand accounts of the suffering caused by apartheid from witnesses. In 1973, a friend in Guyana sent him a clipping from the South African Official Gazette announcing that the ban on Braithwaite’s ‘To Sir, With Love’ book had been lifted. On an impulse, he called the South African Consul General and asked if this meant he could travel South Africa. To his surprise, he was granted a visa to the country as an ‘honorary white’ which gave him far more privileges than allowed for the Indigenous Black South African majority population. A situation which he found detestable. During his six weeks in South Africa, he recorded his experiences and the horrors he witnessed in his third book, Honorary White (1975). In the early 1970s, Braithwaite retired from diplomatic work to move into academia. He taught English Studies at the universities of New York, Florida State and the renowned HBCU Howard University in Washington, where he also served as writer-in-residence. His last academic appointment was as a visiting professor at Manchester Community College in Connecticut during the 2005-6 academic year. He also served as the college’s commencement speaker for that year and received honorary degrees. Throughout his incredible life, Braithwaite continued to write novels and short stories well into his 90s! His other books included A Kind of Homecoming (1962), about searching for his ancestral roots; Choice of Straws (1965), a mystery novel set in London; and his first children’s book, Billingsly: The Bear With the Crinkled Ear (2014). In his book Reluctant Strangers (1972), which records the increasingly contentious conversation between Braithwaite and a white American businessman, who grudgingly took the last seat on a train next to him. As their conversation progresses, the American becomes more and more astonished by Braithwaite’s life story. “Evidently you’re an exceptional man,” he tells Braithwaite. “Funny thing is that inside myself I don’t feel exceptional. There are lots like me, strong in themselves, feeling they can do things. But perhaps they’re not as lucky as me. They’re denied the freedom, the opportunity and the right to give expression to what they feel.” Braithwaite was a remarkable man. He was a Black man that grew up under British colonial rule, he endured the prejudice and institutional racism of post-war Britain, but through his sheer tenacity he was able to live a long and varied life. He was a teacher, diplomat, professor, and social worker, all whilst writing 22 books – memoirs, novels, and academic texts. When Braithwaite turned 100 in 2012, he went back to his native Guyana to serve as the patron of the Inter-Guiana Cultural Festival. He was also awarded the Cacique Crown of Honour by the then President Donald Ramotar. The following year, at 101, Braithwaite returned to Britain to attend the first live performance of the stage version of To Sir, With Love. Eustace Edward Ricardo Braithwaite died on December 12, 2016, at the Adventist Healthcare Shady Grove Medical Centre in Rockville, Maryland at the age of one hundred and four. Source: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/dec/14/to-sir-with-love-author-er-braithwaite-dies-aged-104 (2) https://laterbloomer.com/e-r-braithwaite/ (1) ‘To Sir with Love Author’ E.R Braithwaite is a Special Person - Kaieteur News (kaieteurnewsonline.com) Eustace Edward Ricardo Braithwaite (1912–2016) • (blackpast.org) (3) https://youtu.be/H5yWCk7EzBM?feature=shared E. R. Braithwaite: To Sir, With Love (1959) - Literary London Society

Black History Month UK 2023 'Before Windrush' - exploring the lives and stories of Black Britons who were living in the UK before the arrival of Empire Windrush in 1948. Ivor Gustavus Cummings was born on 10 December 1913 in West Hartlepool. His mother, Johanna Archer was a white English nurse and his father, Ismael Cummings, was a Black doctor from Sierra Leone. He had come to England to study to be a doctor and was one of several African professionals working on the Tyneside. The couple met whilst working together at Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary. After a whirlwind romance they conceived a baby boy they named Ivor. At a young age Ivor and his mother moved to Addiscombe in Surrey, while his father returned to Sierra Leone. Ivor’s family befriended the widow of composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor to whom they were related by marriage, and he got to know his cousins Avril and Hiwatha Coleridge-Taylor who were following in their father’s musical footsteps. Growing up in Addiscombe, Ivor was most-often the only person-of-colour in his local environment. One can only imagine how difficult it was for the young Ivor dealing with the prejudice he faced and it certainly help shape the man he would become. Ivor was privately educated and was racially bullied at school. He told how when he was at the Whitgift School how, in one particularly traumatic incident, the boys set his curly hair on fire. After that terrible incident, his father stepped in, and arranged for Ivor to come to Sierra Leone to complete his education. He thought that he would have a better time in Africa, but Ivor also struggled to fit in at school there. He was packed back off back to England and enrolled in Dulwich College in South London. Here, he excelled, and his academic talents were nurtured, but, unlike his half-brothers and sisters in Sierra Leone, poverty prevented him from going further in his education and becoming a doctor. After graduating from Dulwich College, he moved back to Sierra Leone to work briefly as a clerk for the United Africa Company in Freetown. He returned to England to look for medical scholarships but was unsuccessful and then tried to join the British Army as an officer. His application was rejected due to a law stating that all British army officers had to be “of pure European descent”. There had been a colour bar on officers in the British armed forces since the First World War. Under the 1912 Short Guide to Obtaining a Commission in the Special Reserve of Officers to qualify for a commission, a candidate had to be of pure European descent, and a British born or naturalised British subject. This unambiguous regulation was not officially lifted until the Second World War when Harold Moody mobilised the League of Coloured Peoples, the International African Service Bureau and the West African Students Union (WASU) to campaign against the colour bar. By time the ‘colour bar’ had been lifted in 1940, Cummings had taken a job as warden of Aggrey House in Bloomsbury, London and started his career in the civil service. Aggrey House was opened by the Colonial Office in October 1934 as rival accommodation to the West African Student Union (WASU) run hostels. These places provided accommodation to African and Caribbean students who might otherwise have had to face the brutal reality of being barred from renting rooms. The hostels proved to be very successful, providing practical support and creating a sense of community. However, the Colonial Office viewed the WASU-run hostels as hotbeds of Anti-Colonial activism and opened Aggrey House to monitor and discourage political discussion against the then British Empire and Commonwealth. WASU lobbied against the hostel and successfully convinced African and Caribbean students to boycott it. Aggrey House remained empty for an entire year until a deal was brooked between WASU and the Colonial Office. In his role as warden, Ivor looked after student welfare, including organising meetings and lectures and arranging dances and social events to which he invited the small contingent of black British women in an attempt to make life more pleasant for his almost exclusively male charges. He was clearly politically engaged, with speakers at Aggrey House covering themes such as ‘Present day slavery and the problem of its abolition’ by Anglo-Irish anti-slavery activist Lady Simon and hosting esteemed pan-Africanists such as George Padmore. There continued to be competition between Aggrey House and the WASU run hostels. In August 1937 Cummings even informed the police that two Aggrey residents had taken girls to spend the night at the WASU hostel.  Aggrey House closed in 1940, after reports that communists had come to dominate the House Committee and that one student had brought a sex worker into the hostel. Despite the controversy connected to Aggrey House, this was one of many instances that showed Ivor’s interest in the welfare of Black individuals. Shaped by the racial discrimination he had experienced from his school days and beyond, he tirelessly advocated for Black Britons. Rallying against police brutality, after receiving reports that Black people were being “unduly molested” by officers in the 1930s. He was a prolific press correspondent. The merest hint of a slur against people of Black Britons caused him to lift his pen. He even had an indirect hotline to the monarchy through the good offices of Edwina Mountbatten, a supporter of the 'coloured cause' (a phrase used at the time), who would report back the King's ‘supposed’ displeasure at incidents of discrimination. In their book Windrush: The Irresistible Rise of Multi-Racial Britain, authors Mike and Trevor Phillips describe Cummings as “a fastidious, elegant man, with a manner reminiscent of Noel Coward” who “chain-smoked with a long cigarette holder and addressed visitors as ‘dear boy’”. Ivor was gay and socialised in Black queer intellectual circles in the 1930s and 1940s. He enjoyed London’s night life, as a gay member of ‘the group,’ a set of African intellectuals in London which included the American singer John Payne and the British composer Reginald Foresythe, to whose Nigerian family Cummings's father was doctor in Lagos. Like these two and many others in the social and diplomatic circles in which he moved, Cummings was gay at a time when openness about homosexuality was illegal. Despite criminalisation, there was a significant underground gay community in interwar London. Individuals frequented private members clubs and other spaces. Particularly popular with the Black community was the Shim Sham club, a venue that championed jazz music from across the Atlantic. Though we don’t have evidence that Ivor visited such places, it’s entirely possible, as some of his acquaintances were known to. One of Ivor’s closest friends was the gay Guyanese dancer and bandleader Ken Johnson, a leading figure in Black British music in the 1930s. When Ken died in the 1941 bombing of the Café de Paris, Ivor led on the memorial arrangements through his position of influence at the Colonial Office and was able to obtain exemption from munitions work for band members injured in the bombing. Cummings never hid his gay friendships, according to the Conversation he provided emotional support to mixed heritage actor-turned-lawyer Paul Danquah. At Cummings’ memorial service, Paul recalled how Ivor advised him “You must not disparage your father. Your father is a very important person, and you have his heritage.” Which perfectly encapsulates his relationship with his own father and how he saw himself in the world, as a Black man living in Britain. At the onset of the Second World War, Cummings joined the Colonial Office in 1941 becoming the first Black person to obtain the position. Not surprisingly, the Colonial Office’s public relations team tried to spin his appointment as proof that there was no racial discrimination in Britain. He also served as a secretary of a new Advisory Committee on the Welfare of Colonial People in the United Kingdom, a Colonial Office initiative to assume direct responsibility for housing colonial students. And rapidly gained a reputation of someone who would help any person of colour, whatever their social standing. He used his position to fight the colour bar in boxing and and also prevented African and Caribbean merchant seamen from entering air raid shelters, as well as helping British Honduran foresters in Scotland. With the arrival of the first Caribbean RAF volunteers, his responsibilities grew, and he travelled widely to combat difficulties arising from racial prejudice. Initially minimal, these increased when the segregated US forces appeared. Although both Ivor Cummings and Learie Constantine were both members of the Welfare Office. We don’t know for sure if their paths ever crossed. In 1942, the League of Coloured Peoples commended the increasingly important and visible roles being taken up by Black individuals such as Cummings and Constantine. But they also received backlash for supporting government institutions which were perceived by many to be upholding systems of oppression at home and across the Colonies. After the war, when extra nurses were needed for the National Health Service, he recruited them via his family in Sierra Leone. He continued to work in the Colonial Office and was on close terms with many future political leaders. Like Constantine, he was recognised for his work with the Welfare Office. Ivor was awarded an OBE in the 1948 Birthday Honours. It was following this that Ivor became the official representative for West Indians immigrants arriving on the Empire Windrush. When the Colonial Office was informed of the imminent arrival of 492 job-seeking Caribbean migrants aboard the Empire Windrush via a delayed telegram from the governor of Jamaica. They became the responsibility of the second most senior officer in the Colonial Office – the 35-year-old Ivor Cummings. Cummings replied with apprehensive determination: “Although we shall do what we can for these fellows, the main problem is the complete lack of accommodation and being unable to put in hand any satisfactory reception arrangements.” Though Ivor Cummings’ involvement with Windrush was officially to greet the West Indian arrivals as an envoy of the crown and instruct them on how to find housing and jobs, he continued to support many for as long as they needed. For example, records document Cummings’ dogged efforts to help one Dudley Yapp, 30, secure employment, which Yapp finally did in Warwickshire in September 1948. It was Cummings who, after all other options were exhausted, negotiated the use of a former air raid shelter beneath Clapham Common as temporary accommodation for Windrush arrivals without any prearranged accommodation. The choice of location led to the nearby Brixton becoming a permanent centre for the African Caribbean community in Britain. Despite Cummings huge influence behind the scenes, his name is hardly ever mentioned in the Windrush story. Incredibly, the Independent newspaper revealed that he was omitted from a Brixton History Tour app. So why is Cummings’ name not remembered in the Windrush story? The answer probably lies in his sexuality. Cummings was an openly Black Gay man and consequently, over the years his story has deliberated erased. But activists within the LGBT+ community and people interested in UK Black history are reclaiming and telling his story. Cummings resigned from the Colonial Office in 1958. He’d been offered a high-ranking post in the Colonial Service in Trinidad, but he turned it down. Instead, he accepted an offer from Kwame Nkrumah, then prime minister of the newly independent Ghana, to train diplomats for foreign service. He was widely tipped to be the country’s first Black governor but was posted instead to the Ghana High Commission in London to recruit West Indian professionals, including Ulric Cross. He later worked as a training officer for Yengema Diamond Mines in Sierra Leone and then as a public relations adviser to the London-based distillers Duncan, Gilbey and Matheson. Cummings died of cancer in Westminster Hospital, on 17 October 1992, just shy of his 80th birthday. Sources: https://theconversation.com/ivor-cummings-the-forgotten-gay-mentor-of-the-windrush-generation-204880 https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-ivor-cummings-1561396.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivor_Cummings https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/windrush-generation-ivor-cummings-pride-lgbt-brixton-memorial-a8971906.html https://beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/explore-the-collection/stories/ivor-cummings/ https://www.thepinknews.com/2021/10/28/ivor-cummings-black-gay-windrush-civil-service-obe/ https://ca.style.yahoo.com/ivor-cummings-forgotten-gay-mentor-122517920.html

Angela M explains Black History Month UK and how to celebrate this October. October marks the start of Black History Month UK – a time to celebrate and remember African and Caribbean heritage peoples' achievements and contributions to the British economy, culture, and history. It's a chance to tell the stories of those lesser well-known Black Britons who we will forget if we don't showcase them. What is Black History Month UK? Black History Month UK began in October 1987 by Akyaaba Sebo, a special projects coordinator of the Ethnic Minorities Unit at the now defunct Great London Council. He wanted to boost the self-esteem of Black British children and young adults by educating them on the long history and achievements of Black people living in the UK. Taking inspiration from Black History Month (also known as African American History Month) in the United States. The first event was held on 1 October 1987 at County Hall and was attended by American historian Dr. Maulana Karenga, who founded the African American holiday of Kwanzaa; and Kenyan women’s activist Wanjiru Kihoro. It has since evolved into a national movement recognised by the British government and observed throughout the UK. It is also recognised in other parts of the world during October in Ireland and the Netherlands. In the US, where Black History Month originated, the awareness month is held in February. It is also celebrated in Canada in February too when it was officially recognised in 1995. Since the 1990s, the significance of Black History Month has gradually increased throughout continental Europe and it is now observed in Germany, Belgium, and Italy in February. What are the origins of Black History Month? In 1926, African-American historian Carter G Woodson started national Negro History Week to advocate for the inclusion of American Black History in the US national public education system. Over time, and with the momentum and support of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, the week gradually morphed into the month it is today. In 1976, US Black History Month (or African American Month as it’s now regularly referred to) was officially recognised by President Gerald Ford. Why is it celebrated at different times across the globe? After visiting America in the 1970s, Addai-Sebo created a British version of Black History Month in 1987, but they are not officially linked. In the United States, Black History Month takes place in February to coincide with the births of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. Addai-Sebo choose to celebrate Black History Month UK in October because of the month's importance in the African calendar. More importantly, it was the start of the British academic year. Why should we separate Black History Month celebrations in the US and UK? When Black History Month UK started in the UK, there was a big emphasis on African American history. Over time the focus has moved to celebrating and recognising Black British history and key Black figures in the UK. It’s important also that we focus only on British Black history as the Black British community is a composite of peoples with different cultures and identities. Some individuals with a lineage beginning long before the Windrush generation and others with distinct and very different cultures rooted in the African and Caribbean continents. Why do we celebrate Black History Month UK 2023? In 2021, the National Census revealed that the overall Black population makes up 2.4 million (4%) people living in England and Wales, a steep rise from the 1.9 million (3.3.%) recorded a decade earlier. This growth was powered by a growing Black African population (nearly 3%) while the Black Caribbean population slowed to just 1%. As Britain’s Black population changes, we need to make sure that the stories of the previous generations are not lost and are remembered and honoured by the new generations of Black Britons. ‘[UK] Black history is a series of missing chapters from British history’ said David Olusoga, historian, and we must be involved in the telling of these stories. Black History Month exists to tell these stories in our own voices. It’s our chance to shine a light on individuals who aren’t featured in the mainstream and whose contributions would be forgotten without Black History Month UK. It's a time to celebrate Black Britons who are making history now too. It also provides us with a space to tackle racial discrimination head-on within our society by encouraging government, institutions, and corporations to advocate for diversity, equality, and inclusion. Do we really need Black History Month UK? Some campaigners argue against the existence and usefulness of the month as they believe it marginalizes UK Black history and that it should, rightly, be remembered all year round. Organisations such as The Black Curriculum are working hard to address the lack of Black British history in the UK curriculum through campaigning, training teachers, and delivering Black history programmes. But Black History Month UK, like many other national and international events, provides us with an opportunity to remember individuals and events that would never be included in a racially inclusive national curriculum and would remain forgotten to the annals of time. What are the aims of Black History Month in the UK? Celebrate and recognise the achievements of African and Caribbean heritage people's role in helping to shape UK culture, history, and economic development. Educating the UK population on how the relationships between Britain, Africa, the Caribbean, and the United States helped create modern Britain. To encourage government, institutions, and corporations to embrace and adopt equality and diversity policies. What is the theme of Black History Month UK 2023? The theme of Black History Month UK 2023 is ‘Before Windrush’. This October we’ll be exploring the lives and stories of Black Britons who were living in the UK before the arrival of Empire Windrush in 1948. Throughout the month we’ll be shining a spotlight on notable Black Britons such as Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Kofoworola Abeni Pratt, Learie Constantine and Princess Ademola. We’ll also exploring Black doctors and nurses working in healthcare before the NHS and the 18th century Black prisoners of war at Portchester Castle in 1796. Not forgetting that Black History Month is also about documenting history in the making. We'll be asking the UK Black Community to commemorate the month by sharing their own family histories using the hashtag #bhmfamilies How can I celebrate Black History Month UK 2023? Black History Month is an excellent opportunity for people from all backgrounds to educate themselves on Black Britain’s history and familiarise themselves with the lesser-known Black Britons who have made a difference to the country. There are a variety of ways you can observe the month: Attend any of the hundreds of events taking place up and down the country to commemorate Black History Month. Check out our Events page for more information. Take on the #BHMFamilies selfie challenge Attend the #BHMUK23 launch event and Play our Big Fat Black History online quiz Why not watch our '10 ways to celebrate Black History Month UK' video for more ideas? How should educational organisations and business corporations recognise the month? The theme of Black History Month UK 2023 is ‘Before Windrush,' and we advise any schools and colleges interested in exploring the topic in greater detail to visit The Black Curriculum website, which has an extensive range of educational resources relating to the theme. We encourage business corporations to provide a safe space for all individuals who wish to commemorate the month in which stories can be shared – personal experiences and/or inspiring stories. But to also remember that not everybody may want to be involved in your Black History Month UK planning simply because of their ethnic background. Such assumptions place the burden of responsibility on them, and if they’re a visible minority in your workplace, they might feel tokenized about their role in your workplace. Remember, for best results, you should be recognizing all your employees, all year round! Companies are also advised to run a DEI (diversity, equality, and inclusion) audit of their business. Surveys make it easier to understand the current state of DEI at your company, pinpoint focus areas, and run intersectional analyses that can guide companies towards meaningful action. Who is the International Black History Month UK (IBHM-UK) organisation? The International Black History Month UK (IBHM-UK) was created in June 2020 by a group of Black Britons with a passion for investigating and curating the hidden and forgotten stories of Britain’s black past. We’re committed to raising the profile of the month amongst the African, Caribbean and Black British community in the UK. As one of our young volunteer interns explains: “Neither my primary or secondary schools celebrated Black History Month UK and I had to learn about UK Black History myself. So, I think it’s important that an organisation like this exists to fill the gaps in knowledge that many people in the UK’s African and Caribbean community may have about Britain’s black past. Our community is not a monolith, and we all have different lived experiences. BHMUK allows us all to reflect and celebrate on all the different aspects of British Black history from finding out about awe inspiring individuals like Dr Harold Moody and John Blanke to the legislative changes in UK law championed by the Windrush generation." For too long, Black History Month UK has lacked direction and focus. We decided to step into that space to ensure that this important month has a clear message and theme. Our CEO, Angela says: “I have a young son who was tasked with choosing a notable Black Briton for a school assignment and I was shocked to learn that the only resources available was a listings website with poorly researched articles and filled to the brim with job adverts. We set up this organisation to ensure that quality information and free resources are available to everyone who wants to learn about UK Black History. And more importantly, that the stories of Black Britons are told in an authentic voice that belongs to us and not someone masquerading as one of us!“ We are a local community group that provides free resources on UK Black History and hope to run themed Black UK history events in 2023 and beyond.

Our list of books to read during BHMUK21 including fiction and non-fiction titles. You can purchases any of the books listed in our IBHM Heritage shop on our IBHM Heritage shop, which helps support IBHM-UK website and independent bookshops. Manifesto: A radically honest and inspirational memoir by Bernadine Evaristo From the bestselling and Booker Prize-winning author of Girl, Woman, Other, Bernardine Evaristo's memoir of her own life and writing, and her manifesto on unstoppability, creativity, and activism. Bernardine Evaristo's 2019 Booker Prize win was a historic and revolutionar occasion, with Evaristo being the first Black woman and first Black British person ever to win the prize in its fifty-year history. Girl, Woman, Other was named a favorite book of the year by President Obama and Roxane Gay, was translated into thirty-five languages, and has now reached more than a million readers. Evaristo's astonishing nonfiction debut, Manifesto, is a vibrant and inspirational account of Evaristo's life and career as she rebelled against the mainstream and fought over several decades to bring her creative work into the world. With her characteristic humor, Evaristo describes her childhood as one of eight siblings, with a Nigerian father and white Catholic mother, tells the story of how she helped set up Britain's first Black women's theatre company, remembers the queer relationships of her twenties, and recounts her determination to write books that were absent in the literary world around her. She provides a hugely powerful perspective to contemporary conversations around race, class, feminism, sexuality, and aging. She reminds us of how far we have come, and how far we still have to go. In Manifesto, Evaristo charts her theory of unstoppability, showing creative people how they too can visualize and find success in their work, ignoring the naysayers. Both unconventional memoir and inspirational text, Manifesto is a unique reminder to us all to persist in doing work we believe in, even when we might feel overlooked or discounted. Evaristo shows us how we too can follow in her footsteps, from first vision, to insistent perseverance, to eventual triumph. The Louder I Will Sing: A story of racism, riots and redemption by Lee Lawrence Winner of the 2020 Costa Biography Award. What would you do if the people you trusted to uphold the law committed a crime against you? Who would you turn to? And how long would you fight them for? On 28th September 1985, Lee Lawrence's mother Cherry Groce was wrongly shot by police during a raid on her Brixton home. The bullet shattered her spine and she never walked again. In the chaos that followed, 11-year-old Lee watched in horror as the News falsely pronounced his mother dead. In Brixton, already a powder keg because of the deep racism that the community was experiencing, it was the spark needed to trigger two days of rioting that saw buildings brought down by petrol bombs, cars torched and shops looted. But for Lee, it was a spark that lit a flame that would burn for the next 30 years as he fought to get the police to recognise their wrongdoing. His life had changed forever: he was now his mother's carer, he had seen first-hand the prejudice that existed in his country, and he was at the mercy of a society that was working against him. And yet that flame - for justice, for peace, for change - kept him going. The Louder I Will Sing is a powerful, compelling and uplifting memoir about growing up in modern Britain as a young Black man. It's a story both of people and politics, of the underlying racism beneath many of our most important institutions, but also the positive power that hope, faith and love can bring in response. Black British Lives Matter by Lenny Henry and Marcus Ryder Featuring essays from David Olusoga, Dawn Butler MP, Kit de Waal, Kwame Kwei-Armah, and many more. In response to the international outcry at George Floyd's death, Lenny Henry and Marcus Ryder have commissioned this collection of essays to discuss how and why we need to fight for Black lives to matter - not just for Black people but for society as a whole. Recognising Black British experience within the Black Lives Matter movement, nineteen prominent Black figures explain why Black lives should be celebrated when too often they are undervalued. Drawing from personal experience, they stress how Black British people have unique perspectives and experiences that enrich British society and the world; how Black lives are far more interesting and important than the forces that try to limit it. "We achieve everything not because we are superhuman. We achieve the things we achieve because we are human. Our strength does not come from not having any weaknesses, our strength comes from overcoming them" Doreen Lawrence. "I always presumed racism would always be here, that it was a given. But the truth is, it was not always here, it was invented." David Olusoga "Our identity and experience will shape every story, bleed into every poem, inform every essay whether it's about Black 'issues' or not" Kit de Waal Maybe I Don't Belong Here. A Memoir of Race, Identity, Breakdown and Recovery by David Harewood 'As a Black British man I believe it is vital that I tell this story. It may be just one account from the perspective of a person of colour who has experienced this system, but it may be enough to potentially change an opinion or, more importantly, stop someone else from spinning completely out of control.' – David Harewood Is it possible to be Black and British and feel welcome and whole? Maybe I Don't Belong Here is a deeply personal exploration of the duality of growing up both Black and British, recovery from crisis and a rallying cry to examine the systems and biases that continue to shape our society. In this powerful and provocative account of a life lived after psychosis, critically acclaimed actor, David Harewood, uncovers devastating family history and ... Cane Warriors by Alex Wheatle Nobody free till everybody free. Moa is fourteen. The only life he has ever known is working on the Frontier sugar cane plantation for endless hot days, fearing the vicious whips of the overseers. Then one night he learns of an uprising, led by the charismatic Tacky. Moa is to be a cane warrior, and fight for the freedom of all the enslaved people in the nearby plantations. But before they can escape, Moa and his friend Keverton must face their first great task: to kill their overseer, Misser Donaldson. Time is ticking, and the day of the uprising approaches... Irresistible, gripping and unforgettable, Cane Warriors follows the true story of Tacky's War in Jamaica, 1760. This is Why I Resist, Don't Define My Black Identity by Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu In This Is Why I Resist activist and political commentator, Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu digs down into the deep roots of racism and anti-blackness in the UK and the US. Using real life examples from the modern day, Dr Shola shows us the different forms racism takes in our day-to-day lives and asks us to raise our voice to end the oppression. She delves into subjects not often explored such as racial gatekeepers, white ingratitude, performative allyship (those black squares on Instagram), current identity politics and abuse of the Black trans community. Where other books take White people by the hand to help them negotiate issues of race, This Is Why I Resist offers no sugar-coated comfort, instead it challenges and asks WHEN will White people progress on race inclusion. Black Lives Matter and change is now. The Clapback: Your Guide to Calling out Racist Stereotypes by Elijah Lawal In order to have an honest and open conversation about race, we need to identify areas where things are not right. The Clapback: How to Call Out Harmful Stereotypes examines the evolution of the negative stereotypes towards the black community and arms you with the tools to shut them down once and for all. Taking readers on a journey through history, and providing facts and detailed research, this is an eye-opening and refreshing look at race and language. With a light-hearted, razor sharp wit and a refreshing honesty, The Clapback is the handbook the world needs, dishing out the hard truths and providing a road map for bringing some 'act right' into our everyday lives. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano by Oladah Equiano The autobigraphy of the leading African abolitionist, Oladah Equiano, was reissued ahead of Black History Month UK with a new foreword by David Olusoga. A new audiobook will also be released read by rapper, actor and author Ben Bailey Smith, also known as Doc Brown. Olusoga will read his own foreword. Additional material is provided by author and professor James Walvin from York University. You can purchases any of the books listed in our IBHM Heritage shop on IBHM Heritage shop, which helps support IBHM-UK website and independent bookshops. Disclosure: If you buy books linked to our site, we may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops.

Britain of the 1970s and 1980s was a cold, bleak and unwelcoming place for the sons and daughters of immigrants who accepted Britain’s call for workers to help restore its post-war economy. There was widespread racism in housing, employment, and policing. African, Caribbean and South Asian heritage people in Britain were subjected to racist violence from far-right groups such as the National Front and struggled to find work despite being born in the UK. During this period, it was common for Black footballers to be subjected to racist chanting from crowd members. It was a pivotal time for Britain and British Black History. The 1970s saw Britain try to come-to-terms with its post-colonial status. The decade was marked by four elections, blackouts, an IMF bailout, massive strikes, mass unemployment and 25% inflation. Life was hard for the ordinary working class Britons, and even harder for young Black people who faced racial discrimination in employment and policing. In 1965, spurred on by the Bristol Bus Boycott, the Labour government enacted the Race Relations Act to make ‘racial discrimination unlawful in public places’. The act was later amended in 1968 to make it illegal to refuse housing, employment or public services to a person on the grounds of colour, race, ethnic or national origins in Great Britain (excluding Northern Ireland which had its own parliament at the time). It also created the Community Relations Commission to promote ‘harmonious community relations.’ But these laws didn’t cover the Police forces in the UK who had argued successfully to the then Labour government that it would prevent them from ‘doing their job properly.’ In particular, using the notorious ‘sus law’ to stop, search, arrest, detain and assault young Black people, some as young as 11 years-old. The law was based on section 4 of the 1824 Vagrancy Act which was enacted to deal with a homeless population which had been swollen by veterans from the Napoleonic Wars and people displaced by the effects of the Industrial Revolution. Section 4 gave police the right to apprehend people suspected (hence ‘sus’) of ‘intent to commit an arrestable offence.’ As a result of a confected mugging scare in the early 1970s, police began to apply the law disproportionately and almost arbitrarily towards young Black people, especially in London. (1) Under the ‘sus law,’ Black children as young 11 and 12-years old were routinely arrested for activities as inoffensive as waiting for a bus or walking down the road. In many cases, these Black youths - mainly boys - would be arrested and physically assaulted in the back of a police van or at the local station. Often they would be detained for days, without their families’ knowledge. And often they would be wrongly accused of a crime such as theft or conspiracy, in which case it became their word against the police’s. (1) Because under the law the burden of proof lay with the police. No physical evidence was required. It’s only requirement was two witnesses, almost always police officers, who could corroborate that they had reasonable belief that someone was about to commit an arrestable offence. In fact, more than 90% of convictions in sus cases were on the strength of police testimony alone. Lord Boateng described the time in the Guardian newspaper: “It was a very turbulent period in the history of Black people in Britain. We were up against overt racism on the part of not only the police but the entire criminal justice system. There were two Black solicitors in London and I was one of them. There were hardly any Black magistrates. There were hardly any Black police officers. Racism was rampant, and to be found everywhere.” In 1977, a group of parents, led by Mavis Best, in Lewisham set up the ‘Scrap the SUS’ campaign to repeal the law. When Black youths were taken into custody, they would go down to the police station to get them out. Best said in an interview: “I used to go down to the police station and say: Come on. I demand that you let these kids out. I want to take them home. Because by then their parents were so debilitated by the whole thing that they couldn’t do anything.” Under Best’s leadership, the group secured the help of a 28 year old community activist and lawyer, Paul Boateng (future Home Secretary and Labour Peer) to help them. He said ‘Best called me up out of the blue and just said: Would you come to a meeting on Friday?’. The campaign first grew into a London-wide coalition rallied by the Black Parents Movement. As Black parents became more and more concerned about their children being targeted by the police. In Lambeth, Jean Bernard started the group ‘Lambeth Black Parents Against SUS.’ She said: “I never dreamed that police did the things they do. My attitude [of them] has changed drastically over the past two years.’ Veteran Black activist, Martha Osamor (now Baroness Osamor) recalled how Black mothers discussed the issue during the school pick-up. She joined the campaign whilst working as Community Outreach for the Tottenham Law Centre. Part of the Black People’s Organisations Campaign Against SUS (BPOCAS), a broad coalition of Black groups and lawyers, launched later in 1978. The Scrap SUS campaign issued leaflets, ran stalls at public events, and drummed up support from the local press and other community members. Mavis said: “We used to scan the papers daily and if there was anything inaccurate about our community we would immediately respond with a rebuttal or story from our perspective. If we don’t do that then people tend to believe what they hear.” Best would organise and attend demonstrations, and was often dragged away by the police herself. She also marshaled families and the community to attend court hearings en masse, to fight every case and to call as many witnesses as possible to contradict police evidence. “You have to cast your mind back to a time in which it was rare to challenge directly the evidence of the police,” says Boateng. “But a group of us came to the view that we had to be prepared to call them liars. We had to be ready to challenge them and bring home to magistrates that they themselves were being watched by the community.” (1) Over time the campaign against ‘sus’ garnered nationwide support with TV stations and national newspapers covering the issue. Paul Boateng recalled: “The great strength of SUS campaign was it came from the grassroot experience of a group of Black women in Lewisham and came in time to embrace black and white people, churches, political parties, all united in the belief that this was a law that had to change.’ For three years, successive home secretaries, Conservative and Labour, failed to act on the Black community’s complaints. Mavis and Boateng even met with Merlyn Rees, the Labour home secretary at the time, to discuss the issue. He refused to take action as ‘the police commissioner felt strongly that without the power to stop and search the police wouldn’t be able to do their job properly’. When questioned on the topic in 1980, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir David McNee stated that the reason for its disproportionate use on Black people was because they were “over-represented in offences of robbery and other violent theft.” Paul Boateng described the problem with governments as: “The Home Office consistently under both Labour and Conservative home secretaries refused to accept that the ‘sus law’ was either inherently discriminatory or being used in a discriminatory way.’ But the Scrap SUS campaign’s efforts finally paid off. In February 1980, an all party home affairs committee on Race Relations and the ‘sus’ law began hearings into the law. Both Mavis and Boateng were called to give evidence to the committee. John Wheeler, Conservative MP for the city of Westminster, chaired the select committee and they had to use strong arm tactics to force the reforms. They issued the conservative home secretary William Whitelaw with a tough ultimatum: Repeal the law or we’ll put our own Bill before parliament. Wheeler said: “It was very controversial at the time, and I don't think I was always very popular.” The ‘sus law’ based on Section 4 of the 1824 Vagrancy Act was finally repealed in August 1981. “It was an uphill struggle, but we believed in the justice of our cause, and we believed we would succeed,” says Boateng. But we think that Mavis Best deserves the final word on scrapping the sus campaign: “It took us three years to convince politicians the need to repeal the Act. So, the credit must go to the Black community for this and no one else.” Sources: https://youtu.be/Fi1mXdgoLyI?feature=shared https://youtu.be/AcZkSZHJmDM?feature=shared https://youtu.be/lRbcFNhDFeA?feature=shared https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/nov/29/she-was-not-a-woman-to-back-down-the-fearless-black-campaigner-who-helped-to-scrap-the-sus-law https://mediadiversified.org/mavisbest-2/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sus_law https://www.calmview.eu/BCA/CalmView/default.aspx https://irr.org.uk/article/fighting-sus-then-and-now/ https://www.toynbeehall.org.uk/21/09/2023/black-history-month-at-toynbee-hall-saluting-our-sisters/#:~:text=In%201970s%20London%2C%20police%20used,government%20to%20scrap%20this%20law.

Angela M (CEO of IBHM-UK) explains the origins of Black History Month UK and how to celebrate it. Black History Month UK 2020 October 1st marks the start of Black History Month UK, observed since 1987, it is a time to celebrate the achievements and contributions of African and Caribbean heritage peoples to UK culture and history. What is Black History Month UK? Black History Month UK was the brainchild of Akyaaba Addai-Sebo, a special projects officer at the Greater London Council. He wanted to boost the self-esteem of Black British children and young adults by educating them on the achievements of Black people living in the UK. Taking inspiration from Black History Month (also known as African American History Month) in the United States. The first official event took place on 1st October 1987 at Country Hall. It has since evolved into a national movement that is observed throughout the UK. It is also recognised in other parts of the world during October in Ireland and the Netherlands. In the US, where Black History Month originated, the awareness month is held in February. It is also celebrated in Canada during the month of February, where it was officially recognised in 1995. Why is it celebrated at different times across the globe? After visiting America in the 1970s, Addai-Sebo created a British version of Black History Month in 1987, but they are not officially linked. In the United States, Black History Month takes place in February to coincide with the births of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. Addai-Sebo choose to celebrate Black History Month UK in October because of the month's importance in the African calendar. More importantly, it was the start of the British academic year. Why do we celebrate Black History Month UK 2020? Did you know that there has been a Black presence in the UK since Roman Times? Or that there were Black Tudors, Stuarts and Georgians? Black History Month is our chance to celebrate these unsung heroes of Black British history whose contributions have for too long been ignored and forgotten. Black History Month provides you with the chance to find out more about Black Britain’s rich and varied long history dating back to antiquity times. It’s a time to celebrate the achievements and contributions of Black Britons who helped to shape the country amongst the Black British community and the widen UK population. It also provides us with a space to tackle racism heads-on by encouraging government, institutions and corporations to embrace and adopt equality and diversity policies. What is the theme of Black History Month UK 2020? 2020 is the year the world finally started talking about race and anti-black racism. The brutal murder of George Floyd in the United States by police generated shock waves across the globe and lead to thousands of people taking to the streets to demand an end to racism. Here in the UK, young activists took to the streets to demand an end to racial inequality in education, health and employment. Sparking important conversations over Britain’s colonial past and its role in the Atlantic Slave Trade within government, business and the media. This month we want to celebrate the inspiring modern Black Britons who first picked up the civil rights baton that has now metaphorically been passed onto today’s brave and inspiring young activists. Our theme for this October is ‘Non-Violent Civil Disobedience’ in which we’ll be taking a look back at the Black British activists of the 1960s and 1980s who fought to achieve racial equality in the UK. Shining a light on the Civil Rights activists behind the Bristol Bus Boycott and the Lewisham Mums against SUS laws who paved the way for today’s young Black British activists. Throughout the month we’ll be sharing a variety of profiles and features on the British Civil Rights pioneers of the 1960s and 1970s who paved the wave for today’s Black Britons and the wider UK immigrant community. Visit our website and any of our social media channels (Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube) or why not sign up for our monthly newsletter updates. How will it be commemorated in 2020? Black History Month is a great opportunity for people from all backgrounds to educate themselves on Black British history and the often-overlooked people who have made a difference to the country. Please check your local authority website for news on any exhibitions or events they’re holding in commemoration of Black History Month UK. Or the websites of your local museum or other local cultural institutions for any special events they may be running to mark the occasion. Alternatively, why not check out our Events Calendar or read our blog ’31 ways to celebrate Black History Month UK’ for ideas on how to celebrate UK’s Black History Month with your friends and family. Brands supporting Black History Month this year include The Black Farmer, Bumble, Gap UK, Instagram, Royal Mail and Sainsburys plc. TV and satellite channels supporting Black History Month this year include BBC, Sky, Channel Four, ITV, Britbox, BT Sport, and Together TV. To mark Black History Month and its continued commitment to giving diverse voices a platform in the UK, Spotify is shining a spotlight on the Black artists and talent who have made a difference in a very challenging 2020. Who is the International Black History Month UK (IBHM-UK) organisation? The International Black History Month UK (IBHM-UK) was created in June 2020 by a group of Black Britons with a passion for investigating and curating the hidden and forgotten stories of Britain’s black past. We’re committed to raising the profile of the month amongst the African, Caribbean and Black British community in the UK. As one of our young volunteer interns explains: “Neither my primary or secondary schools celebrated Black History Month UK and I had to learn about UK Black History myself. So, I think it’s important that an organisation like this exists to fill the gaps in knowledge that many people in the UK’s African and Caribbean community may have about Britain’s black past. Our community is not a monolith, and we all have different lived experiences. BHMUK allows us all to reflect and celebrate on all the different aspects of British Black history from finding out about awe inspiring individuals like Dr Harold Moody and John Blanke to the legislative changes in UK law championed by the Windrush generation." For too long, Black History Month UK has lacked direction and focus. We decided to step into that space to ensure that this important month has a clear message and theme. Our CEO, Angela says: “I have a young son who was tasked with choosing a notable Black Briton for a school assignment and I was shocked to learn that the only resources available was a listings website with poorly researched articles and filled to the brim with job adverts. We set up this organisation to ensure that quality information and free resources are available to everyone who wants to learn about UK Black History. And more importantly, that the stories of Black Britons are told in an authentic voice that belongs to us and not someone masquerading as one of us!“ We are a local community group that provides free resources on UK Black History and hope to run themed Black UK history events in 2021 and beyond.

Black History Month UK 2023 'Before Windrush' - exploring the lives and stories of Black Britons who were living in the UK before the arrival of Empire Windrush in 1948. Chief Kofoworola Abeni Pratt Hon. FRCN was born into a wealthy family in Lagos, Nigeria in either 1914 or 1915. She was the second of four children - two girls and two boys - of Augustus Alfred Scott and Elizabeth Omowumi Scott (née Johnson). Her paternal grandmother was the daughter of Chief Taiwo, alias 'Olowo', who became the Olofin of lsheri in Lagos State. Brought up in the Anglican faith, she attended St John's Secondary School and CMS Girls School in Lagos. Kofoworola's desire to work within the nursing profession was fired by a tragic event from her early youth. At the end of the First World War in 1918, an influenza epidemic swept across the globe. The cosmopolitan city of Lagos was ravaged by the infection. One morning, the young Kofoworola wandered into her young sister's room to find her father holding her sister to his chest and crying. Her aunt who was also in the room grasped the young Kofoworola and ordered her to go to the room next door. She later learned that her sister, Ayoka, had died at the tender age of two-and-a-half years from influenza. But Kofoworola's wish to become a nurse was thwarted by her father who felt it wasn't a position befitting of a daughter from the Nigerian elite. At that time, in colonial Nigeria, senior nursing posts were only open to white immigrant British women, with the menial tasks delegated to Nigerians. After passing the Cambridge senior school certificate in 1933, she instead went on to study teaching and returned to her old school to teach British history. From 1936 to 1940, she taught at the CMS Girls School. On 3 January 1941, she married Eugene Samuel Oluremi (Olu) Pratt, a pharmacist for the Colonial Civil Service. Her husband was posted in Enugu, Warri and Forcados, so the couple moved around a lot. Their first son died in infancy and their second son, Babatunde, was born in Lagos in 1943. Unsatisfied with their nomadic lifestyle, her husband moved to London the following year to study to become a doctor. Whilst there Olu Pratt made the introduction for his wife to the matron at St Thomas' Hospital in 1946. The matron accepted her, subject to the arrival of the required documents, which proved to be in order. At that time, it was unusual for a married women from the middle classes to enter the nursing profession. Society norms dedicated that married women stayed at home to raise their family, particularly amongst the middle classes. But Kofoworola’s husband Olu strongly supported his wife’s commitment to nursing and provided an unobtrusive support to her achieving her dream career in nursing. In August 1946, Kofoworola moved to England to study nursing at the Nightingale School at St Thomas’ Hospital in London. Her son was left with foster parents in Nigeria while she attended the St Thomas’ Preliminary Training School. Kofoworola arrived to, a London still reeling from the Second World War. St Thomas’ Hospital had been bombed in the war, and so her nursing training took place in temporary quarters across London. During her time at St Thomas’s Hospital, Kofoworola experienced racial discrimination, when a patient refused to be treated by a Black nurse. She was active in the West African Students' Union (WASU), an association of students from various West African countries who were studying in the United Kingdom, and which, in 1942, had called for the independence of Britain's West African colonies. Kofoworola passed her preliminary state exams in 1948 and her finals in 1949, qualifying as a State Registered Nurse on 25 November 1949. Ambitious and driven by learning, she followed her nurse training with a succession of further achievements. She qualified as a midwife (and worked as a midwife), then gained a certificate in tropical medicine. Back in the early 1950s, the Royal College of Nursing ran a ward sister course which she completed before moving into children’s nursing. She worked for the NHS for four years from 1950 to 1954. With the NHS beginning in 1948, she is recognised as one of the first Black women to work in the NHS. Kofoworola is often incorrectly cited as being the first qualified Black nurse to work for the NHS. It seems this first appeared in her biography by Justus A. Akinsanya and was then repeated. Recent research shows that Black nurses worked in the UK prior to the founding of the NHS in 1948, such as Annie Brewster and Princess Ademola. By 1948 trained Black nurses predating Koworola's qualification in 1949, were working for the NHS; however, their stories are under-researched and have only recently come to light such as Lulu Coote. Kofoworola broke through many barriers in her lifetime. She was the first Black student at the Nightingale School for Nurses and later became the first Nigerian-born Chief Nursing Officer in Nigeria. (1) The 1950s also marked another milestone in the lives of the Pratt family with the birth of their third child, a boy they named Olufemi in 1952. He was three months old when his mother decided to take advantage of the Nightingale Fund grant previously offered to her. She completed the Ward Sister’s Day course at the Royal College of Nursing while Femi was cared for by Dr Pratt's cousin, Mrs Akerele. She completed the course and obtained a distinction in the final examination. By now, Dr Pratt had been appointed as medical officer with the Commonwealth Development Corporation and was later posted to the Cameroons. Leaving their family divided between England and the Cameroons. (2) In 1954, Kofoworola returned to a Nigeria still in the grips of British colonial rule. She applied for a post as ward sister at the University College Hospital in Ibadan but was turned down, despite her numerous qualifications and considerable experience as a ward leader in the UK. Colonial Nigeria was managed by the British under a system known as ‘indirect rule.’ Credited to Frederick Lugard who took the idea from the Songhai and Ashanti Empires. Lugard’s interpretation became a political doctrine which held that Europeans and Africans were culturally different to the extent, Africans had to be ruled through the African’s own institutions. In practice, this meant that the African colonies were ruled directly by the Colonial Office in London and an apartheid-style system in which the vast majority of the native populations were condemned to work in menial jobs. At the time, the position of ward sister was only open to white British nurses. Kofoworola fought the decision and with the support of her colleagues at St Thomas’ Hospital got the position. Not surprisingly, the staff weren’t very welcoming and when she arrived at the hospital, she discovered that her accommodation was in a separate block from her white British colleagues. Even more maddening, the professor of medicine wouldn’t let her work on the hospital ward because she was a native Nigerian. However, the matron of the hospital overturned the decision and Kofoworola was moved to a medical ward at the newly built Adeoyo Hospital in Ibadan. When Kofoworola arrived at Adeoyo Hospital was still under construction and she used the opportunity to impose new standards for hygiene, care and nutrition, and reformed the administration of the ward. She was promoted to administrative sister in 1955 and the following year, she returned to London to study for a diploma in hospital nursing administration from the Royal College of Nursing. This transition from white British nurses, doctors, and other professionals and administrators to Nigerians was called “Nigerianisation”. It was a policy of training and posting Nigerians to positions of responsibility previously occupied by white Britons in the public service of the government of Nigeria. The process started and was largely implemented in the 1950s becoming more important as Nigeria marched towards independence in 1960. It was shaped as a fight against racial discrimination and colonialism by Nigerian nationalists. Shockingly, but not surprisingly, when the first independent Nigerian government took power, they had to agree to giving financial compensation to all the white British workers who had lost their jobs to native Nigerians. After becoming the first Nigerian ward sister, Kofoworola, then, successively, the first Nigerian assistant matron, deputy matron, and in 1964, matron, at the top hospital in Nigeria, University College Hospital, Ibadan. Later in 1959, she travelled to the United States, Puerto Rico and Jamaica on a Carnegie Grant to gain broader nursing experience. In the United States, she was impressed by training based at universities. She would later lead in the introduction of university-based training in Nigeria, achieved in 1965. In 1964, Kofoworola was appointed matron at University College Hospital in Ibadan, the first Nigerian nurse to hold that position, which was previously only open to white British nurses when Nigeria was under colonial rule. The following year, she became chief nursing officer in the Nigerian Ministry of Health and was later made commissioner of health for Lagos. (3) Committed to public service and raising the profile of nursing, she helped establish a professional association for nurses in Nigeria and founded a journal, Nigerian Nurse. She led in the establishment of nursing schools and did some of the training herself. There were many broader accomplishments too, which helped cement Kofoworola’s place as a nursing leader of international significance. She led Nigeria’s first delegation to the congress of the International Council of Nurses (ICN) and was the first African to serve as a vice president of the ICN. As an advocate for the rights of women and children, she also headed the Nigerian delegation attending the United Nations’ first world conference on the status of women, held in Mexico City in 1975. (3) And for a decade she was a member of an expert panel that advised the World Health Organization on nursing. (3) In October 2021, Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital launched The Kofoworola Abeni Pratt Fellowship for nurses, midwives, and allied health professional from across the Trust who wanted to undertake personal and professional development. The one-year programme and was based in the Nightingale Academy where Kofoworola started her nursing career. Kofoworola has been dubbed the ‘African Florence Nightingale’ and there are certainly many similarities between the two. Both came from middle class backgrounds and were discouraged by their parents to pursue a nursing career. Both fought and overcame the discrimination of the day to pursue their nursing careers and revolutionised the nursing industries in their home countries. Rightly so, Kofoworola is well known throughout Nigeria because of the legacy she left. She’s a role model to the thousands of women who choose to enter the nursing professional in Nigeria each year. And by highlighting her story throughout Black History Month UK we hope that she can inspire Black nurses here in the UK too. In 1979, surely in a full circle moment, Kofoworola was awarded the Florence Nightingale medal by the International Committee of the Red Cross and made an honorary fellowship of the RCN. (3) Kofoworola died in Lagos in 1992. Sources: An African Florence Nightingale by Justus A. Akinsanya (2) https://nightingalesociety.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/An-African-Florence-Nightingale-CWFN-site.pdf https://www.rcn.org.uk/magazines/History/2022/Jan/Fearless-about-being-first-Nigeria-Kofoworola-Abeni-Pratt (3) https://www.guysandstthomas.nhs.uk/news/guys-and-st-thomas-launches-kofoworola-abeni-pratt-fellowship https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kofoworola_Abeni_Pratt (1) https://nightingalesociety.com/papers/kofoworola-abeni-pratt-outline/ https://www.younghistoriansproject.org/early-women/kofoworola-and-mojibola-pratt https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)02240-6/fulltext

March is Women's History Month - an annual month that highlights the contributions of women to events in history and contemporary society. The 2024 theme celebrates “Women Who Advocate for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.” This theme recognizes women who understand the need to eliminate bias and discrimination from individuals' lives and institutions. We'll be exploring the lives of African & Caribbean heritage women who contributed to change in the UK and overseas via biographies, media recommendations and blogs throughout the month. ​ Remember, you can explore Black British History beyond a designated month and we’re committed to helping guide you through your journey learning about UK Black History all throughout the year. Start your journey today by learning about amazing Women of African and Caribbean heritage such as: Yvonne Conolly, Emma Clarke, Jessica Huntley, Claudia Jones, Kofoworola Abeni Pratt, and Kathleen Wrasama. ​ Alternatively, you can check out our social media accounts or why not test your knowledge in our Women’s History Month quiz. Don’t forget to subscribe to our monthly e-newsletter for regular updates!